is a retired

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

ka. Saito is from

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

Hokkaidō is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel. The la ...

. He belonged to

Asahi Kasei is a multinational Japanese chemical company. Its main products are chemicals and materials science. It was founded in May 1931, using the paid in capital of Nobeoka Ammonia Fiber Co., Ltd, a Nobeoka, Miyazaki based producer of ammonia, nitri ...

after graduation from

Kokushikan University is a private university in Setagaya, Tokyo, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. Combined teams of the Graduate School of Engineering and the Department of Science and Engineering competed against 130 team and came in 11th place in the 27th Formula SAE in 20 ...

in 2000. Saito was good at Uchimata and

Newaza Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling i ...

in high-school days and was expected to get medal of

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

in the future. But he was not able to use the skill of them by the trouble of knee like

Anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

since 2000. In 2005, he won a gold medal at the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asian ...

and All-Japan Selected Championships with the skill that he learned newly like

Kata guruma is one of the traditional forty throws of judo as developed by Kano Jigoro. Kata guruma belongs to the third group of the traditional throwing list in the ''Gokyo no waza'' of the Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kod ...

Ōuchi gari is one of the original 40 throws of Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔 ...

and

Kuchiki taoshi is a single leg takedown in Judo adopted later by the Kodokan into their Shinmeisho No Waza (newly accepted techniques) list. It is categorized as a hand technique, Te-waza. Technique Description Kuchiki taoshi is sometimes translated as "d ...

. But he was not chosen as a Japanese representative at the

held in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. He has coached judo at Asahi Kasei since 2010. Among his students is Tatsuki Masubuchi

Yohei Takai is a Japanese judoka. He won a bronze medal at the open category of the 2005 World Judo Championships. He is from Kanagawa Prefecture. After graduation from Kokushikan University, he joined to Asahi Kasei which former world champions, Hirosh ...

and so on. His younger brother, is also famous judoka and won a gold medal at the

Kodokan Cup The , or ''Kōdōkan'' (講道館), is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. The ''kōdōkan'' was founded in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo. Etymology Literally, ''kō'' ( ...

in 2001.

Achievements

*1994 - All-Japan Junior Championships (-86 kg) ''2nd'' :: - Inter-highschool championships (-86 kg) ''3rd'' *1995 - Kodokan Cup (-86 kg) ''2nd'' :: - Inter-highschool championships (-86 kg) ''1st'' *1996 -

Jigoro Kano Cup The Grand Slam Tokyo (formerly ) is an international judo competition held as part of the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Tour Grand Slam series. Venues *1978–2006: Nippon Budokan *2007–present: Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium Pa ...

(-86 kg) ''3rd'' :: - All-Japan Selected Championships (-86 kg) ''3rd'' :: - All-Japan Junior Championships (-86 kg) ''1st'' *1997 - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''2nd'' :: - All-Japan Junior Championships (-86 kg) ''1st'' :: - All-Japan University Championships (-86 kg) ''3rd'' *1998 - All-Japan University Championships (-90 kg) ''3rd'' *1999 - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''3rd'' :: - All-Japan University Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd'' *2000 - All-Japan Businessgroup Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd'' *2001 - All-Japan Selected Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd'' :: - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2002 - All-Japan Selected Championships (-90 kg) ''3rd'' :: - All-Japan Businessgroup Championships (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2003 - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''2nd'' :: - All-Japan Businessgroup Championships (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2004 - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''1st'' :: - All-Japan Businessgroup Championships (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2005 -

(-90 kg) ''1st'' :: - All-Japan Selected Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd'' :: - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2006 - All-Japan Selected Championships (-90 kg) ''1st'' :: - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2007 - Jigoro Kano (-90 kg) ''3rd'' :: - All-Japan Selected Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd'' :: - Kodokan Cup (-90 kg) ''1st'' *2008 - All-Japan Businessgroup Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd'' *2009 - All-Japan Businessgroup Championships (-90 kg) ''2nd''

References

Japanese male judoka Sportspeople from Sapporo Martial artists from Hokkaido 1977 births Living people 21st-century Japanese people {{Japan-judo-bio-stub